SteamU: Getting Your Steampunk Book on Audio by Jim Musgrave

Friday, February 21, 2014

Today SteamU welcomes author Jim Musgrave who shares his insights with fellow writers on how to get your steampunk book on audio. I don't know about you, but I'm all ears (haha, I know). Audio books are increasingly popular and there are several ways to get your book on audio. Jim is also the author of Steam City Pirates, an exciting new steampunk novel that I encourage everyone to ccheck out! Gather around students . . .

Getting Your
Steampunk Book on Audio

An
audio book contains a recorded version of a print book. While audio books for
the blind have existed for decades, the commercial audio book market blossomed
with the advent of books on tape in the 1970s. If you have a great speaking
voice and want to earn extra money, or if you're an author looking for another
way to sell your product, here's how to make an audio book.

Locate
the source material. Get permission from the book or article's owner to record
it as an audio book. If you're recording your own work, make sure that you've
copyrighted the original version and the sound recording.Practice the material before recording. Get
acquainted with the pacing and vocabulary of the piece. Try different accents
and be certain of how to pronounce names or difficult words.Modulate your voice. Avoid speaking in a
monotone; change pitch and timbre to get your point across and keep the
listener engaged. Don't speak in a rapidly changing "sing-song"
voice, but let the material dictate your tone of voice.

Choose
the best recording equipment you can afford. A simple mixing board will do.
Check sites like Musicians Friend to find deals on four- or eight-channel
mixers. Unless you expect to features lots of sound effects in your audio book,
more channels aren't necessary. Invest in a good microphone, like a Shure or
Telefunken.

Hire
an engineer and voice talent for more complicated projects. If the book in
question needs more than one narrator, or if you need to record music and sound
effects, consider hiring voice talent and an engineer. If you don't have time
to do so on your own, find an audio book producer to package your book for you.

Decide
which product format you want to sell. CDs and digital downloads (MP3s) have
replaced cassette tapes as the format of choice. Then figure out where to sell
your audio book. You may want to use your own website, or sell it through a
site like Audible.I used ACX, Amazon’s
audio platform.In this site you can
“recruit” possible voices for your book and “hire them” for the job based on
their posted samples to you.

For
example, I needed somebody “Irish” to record my mystery, Forevermore, and I was
able to hire Shandon Loring to read my book.He has an interesting voice; it is deep and resonant without being
distracting to the ear, and I enjoyed his sense of drama while reading.I hired him to share the proceeds of the sale
of my book, 50/50, as I truly believe that the important job of reading my
novel, and making it come to life, deserved a big share, and I also believe the
“voice” can make or break the success of an audio book--especially a
mystery.

Therefore,
you should choose your talent wisely when you decide to create an audio, and be
ready to give them the chance they so richly deserve.If my audio version of the first novel in my
“Pat O’Malley Steampunk Mystery Series” is a success, I will owe it to my
friend and business partner, Shandon Loring.

I wish you all the
success in your own enterprise, and please drop me a line if you want to share
your own experience making an audio recording!Thanks so much to Jim Musgrave for stopping by! Be sure to stop by the author's blog. He has a ton of interesting links, posts, images, and other steamy goodies!